Russia reacted Monday to a new round of U.S. sanctions by preparing to ban Sen. Dick Durbin D-Ill. and others from visiting the nation that invaded Ukraine and sponsored the Sunday election where Crimea voted to split from Ukraine.
The Daily Beast’s Josh Rogin had the scoop about the Russian retailation following the “Obama administration’s Monday announcement that 7 Russian officials and 4 Ukrainian officials would be barred from holding assets or traveling to the United States. Putin is expected to release his retaliation list as early as Tuesday and while the final list is still being crafted, it will include top Obama administration officials and high profile U.S. senators, in an effort to roughly mirror the U.S. sanctions against Russian officials and lawmakers, according to diplomatic sources. At the top of the list in Congress is Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, who recently co-authored a resolution criticizing Russia’s invasion of Crimea.”
Durbin’s response to the sanction threat: “My Lithuanian-born mother would be proud her son made Vladimir Putin’s American enemies list.”
